Supporter device.



J. E. RHODES. SUPPORTEE DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1907.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

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JOHN EIQSTON RHODES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUPPORTER DE VICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

Application filed May 16, 1907. Serial No. 374,052.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ELSTON RHODES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supporter Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved device for gripping and supporting stockings, drawers or other wearing apparel, or in fact, any fabric or flexible material wherever applicable.

The device has the advantages of simplicity of construction, cheapness of manufacture, ease of operation, certainty of grip, and finally the very important advantage that it does not cut or otherwise injure the supported fabric, a common defect in this class of devices.

In the drawings which represent one of the specific forms which my invention may take, Figure 1 is a front elevation and perspective view of a supporter device within my invention with the leaves thereof separated; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device locked to support a piece of fabric; Fig. 3 is a sectional view through 33 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the rear leaf of the device with its middle portion broken away.

Describing now my invention as it is embodied in the device of the drawings, said device comprises a pair of members or leaves 1 and 2 connected to fold together, as for example by a hinge 3. These leaves will preferably be made entirely of metal or other rigid or stiff material.

A hinge 3 can be formed by bending the end of the leaf 1 into a loop inclosing a bar 4 formed in leaf 2 by slotting said leaf transversely across its end with a slot 5; and since the devicewill ordinarily be connected at its hinged end with a piece of webbing, the leaf 1 will preferably be folded at its hinged end into a figure 8 (compare Fig. 4) to form two sleeves 3 and 6 closely compacted together. The lower sleeve 3 serves to hinge the leaves 1 and 2 together and the upper sleeve 6 to receive a metal loop or loops 7 for connecting the device to a piece of webbing.

The upper leaf 2 is provided with a rigid opening 8; that is, with an opening which remains constantly open in its original shape or outline, and ordinarily will consist simply of an opening in a piece of stiff material forming in whole or in part leaf 2 of the device. In the devices illustrated, it will be noted that opening 8 is elongated and that it is located transversely relative to leaf 2. The extremity of said leaf 2 is preferably upturned at 9 to make it convenient to get ones finger under said leaf to raise it off the lower leaf when the leaves are together.

Projecting upward from the leaf 1 through opening 8 in the upper leaf is a stud or projection 10 which will ordinarily be formed by upturning a portion of the metal of said lower leaf 1.

Supported on this stud 10 is a tilting head 11. The preferred construction of tilting head is to make it in elongated or oblong form, indicated in the drawings. Moreover the head is of such length that it will pass through the opening 8 when said head is tilted into upright position relative to its supporting stud 10.

The head 11 should tilt in one direction only, which should be toward the hinged end of the leaves, as shown in Fig. 1.

To use the device in connection with, for example a stocking, the upper edge of the stocking is inserted as shown at 12 between the leaves of the device after the upper leaf 2 has been thrown back with the tilting head 11 in upright position. The upper leaf is then pressed toward leaf 1 to pass 1ts opening 8 over the tilting head 11 and stud 10, with the fabric 12 of the stocking surrounding the head 11 and stud 10 and the upper portion of said stocking located between the two leaves. The tilting head is then turned down into horizontal position, in which position it looks the upper leaf to the lower. The stocking is thereby firmly gripped and can not be removed from the device until same is unlocked. This is done by tilting the head 11 into upright position, raising the leaf 2 clear of the head and separating the device from the stocking.

It will be noted that there is no tendency for the pull on the stocking to tilt the head 11 accidentally into its upright or unlocking position,on the contrary said pull being in a direction away from the hing of the device, acts at all times to maintain the tilting head in its transverse or looking position. It follows that the natural pull on the stocking keeps the device closed and the stocking firmly gripped. Moreover, said pull does not act to tear out or break the threads of the stocking-fabric, because the strain is distributed over a transverse area equal at least to the length of the opening 8 This applies and of the tilting head 11. and distributes the strain to many threads of the fabric instead of to a few. Moreover there is no pinching and consequently no cutting of the stocking between any coacting or opposing parts of the device. Thus, the stud 10 is located on its supporting leaf 1 to project through the opening 8 on the other leaf and to clear the sides thereof to such an extent that the fabric will not be pinched against the stud when the leaves are together. These two features; first, that there is no pinching, and consequently no cutting of the fabric between opposing parts of the device; and second, that the strain is distributed transversely to fall upon many threads of the fabric instead of only a few,- make the above described device entirely free from the usual defect in devices of this character of cutting and breaking the threads of the supported fabric.

In addition, the device is positive and certain in its grip on the fabric and is obviously simple to operate.

It will be noted that the opening 8 ex tends lengthwise of the hinged-connection between the leaves 1 and 2. In other words the bottom of the opening against which the pull of the stocking is received is distributed over a large number of threads as distinguished from being concentrated upon a comparatively few threads, which being unable to withstand the strain, give way or out.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a supporter device, the combination of two members hinge-connected together, one of said members being provided with a rigid sided opening extending lengthwise of the hinge-connection between the members, and the other of said members being provided with a stiff stud projecting through said opening when the members are together and clearing the sides of said opening at a non-pinching distance for the particular fabric with which the device is intended to be used; and a head on said stud operable at will to pass or not to pass through said opening, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a supporter device, the combination of two stiff leaves hinged together, one of said leaves being provided with an opening extending lengthwise of the hinged-connection between the leaves, and the other of said leaves being" provided with a stud projecting through said opening when the leaves are together and clearing the sides of said opening at a non-pinching distance for the particular fabric with which the device is intended to be used; and a tilting head on said stud adapted in size to pass through said opening when tilted, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a supporter device, two members connected to fold together, one of said members having an opening extending lengthwise of the fold connection between the members, and the other of said members being provided with a stud stiifiy supported thereon to project through the opening in the other member, when said members are together, and a tilting head on the stud adapted when tilted to pass through said opening, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a supporter device, the combination of two stiff members hinged together, one of said members having an opening extending lengthwise of the hinge between the members, and the other of said members being provided with a stud stifliy supported thereon to project through the opening in the other member, when said members aretogether, and a tilting head on the stud adapted when tilted to pass through said opening, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a supporter device, the combination of two stiff members hinged together, one of said members having an opening and the other of said members being provided with a stud stiftly supported thereon to project through the opening in the other member, when said members are together, and a tilting head supported on the stud to tilt in one direction only and that direction toward the hinge-connection between the members, said head when tilted being adapted to pass through the opening in the other member.

6. In combination, a metal loop; a sheet metal member formed at one end into two sleeves by a figure 8 fold in the metal thereof, with the outer sleeve receiving said metal loop and the inner sleeve forming part of a hinge connection between its sheet metal member and another sheet metal memher; and said other sheet metal member.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to the foregoing specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN ELSTON RHODES.

l Vitnesses 7 WM. Pi-rirrs,v IRVING L. VAN LooN. 

